A leaked memo reveals that Globe management wants to force reporters and columnists to write ads that look like articles. Media watcher Mathew Ingram, formerly of the Globe, explains why it won’t work.

Episode Rundown

4:37 “John (Stackhouse) asked me to write a column saying I was sorry for being wrong about RIM, right after he had a long conversation with Jim Balsillie” – Ingram.

6:30 “….the RIM coverage from the Globe…it was from some fantasy land” Jesse

7:40 “People don’t realize this,  and it’s not just the Globe: they have a unit of people. Journalists who are there to write advertisements that look like articles.” Jesse

8:30 “I Hear Loblaws has a media wing, and these companies are why are we even paying papers to make this stuff”. Loblaws’ media department.  (link)

8:45 “Redbull is a media company that creates it’s own content” Ingram (link)

10:35 Mathew and Jesse talk about strange Taiwanese News Animations. In case you’ve missed them: (link)

11:00 “Buzzfeed got a lot of crap for their understanding the Egyptian crisis via animated Gifs from Jurassic Park”. (link)

13:05 Branded? Native? Sponsored? J-Source makes a very detailed breakdown of Advertorials and how they are different from regular articles.  (link)

14:30 “Ironically the more(newspapers) try to cater to advertisers, the less valuable they become because their credibility starts to deteriorate”- Ingram

15:46 “That’s why whenever celebrities want to do that stuff(advertising) they go to Japan or China.” Here are some good examples of celebrities cashing in on their fame overseas (link) (link)

16:50 “In fact Jonah Peretti (founder of Buzzfeed)… wants his editorial staff to do whatever they need to do and the people who write the sponsored content to do whatever they need to do” Ingram on how Buzzfeed is a lot more honest with their content than some newspapers. (link)

20:00 “Is Social Media a Passing Fad?” The Globe’s Agenda 2020 article. Paid for by Price Waterhouse Cooper? If so, did writer Paul Attfield know? No-one will say. (link)

23:58 “The power of native advertising is that it’s just content” Ingram.

25:24 “My expectation from a news article from the Globe and Mail, my reaction to (the fact) that an advertiser paid for it, is very different.” Jesse

27:52 “That’s how the Globe gets around a lot of the stuff, I mean this has been happening for ages in other sections…the Globe has a policy where you can’t accept free trips, unless you’re a freelancer..You can get away with anything if you’re a freelancer.” -Ingram

37:25 “You don’t have the trust of your readers, you don’t the credibility that advertisers want to buy, and you don’t have any money.” Ingram talking about how this model of giving the advertisers what they want is unsustainable.

38:00 “How are you going to go to Stephanie Nolen  and say,  ‘write ads now’?

41:54 “The strategy for a journalistic startup in Canada is to appeal to the world and not just constrain it to Canada itself” Ingram explains that the Canadian market is too small.